diff --git a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/DBobjUtils.pm b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/DBobjUtils.pm
index d9fdef03f..7b8b0ec70 100644
--- a/perl-xCAT/xCAT/DBobjUtils.pm
+++ b/perl-xCAT/xCAT/DBobjUtils.pm
@@ -1626,7 +1626,7 @@ sub readFileInput
             push(@::fileobjnames, $objectname);
 
         }
-        elsif (($l =~ /^\s*(\w+)\s*=\s*(.*)\s*/) && (!$look_for_colon))
+        elsif (($l =~ /^\s*(.*)\s*=\s*(.*)\s*/) && (!$look_for_colon))
         {
             my $attr = $1;
             my $val  = $2;